Russia's culture ministry said Monday it fired a theatre director for offending Orthodox believers with a radical staging of a Wagner opera, whose posters showed a crucifixion scene between a naked woman's legs. Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky on Sunday fired Boris Mezdrich, head of state-funded Novosibirsk State Opera and Ballet Theatre, over his interpretation of Richard Wagner's Tannhaeuser. The contemporary staging in Russia's third city Novosibirsk shifts the action to the present day, with Tannhaeuser a movie director making a film about Jesus visiting Venus's erotic grotto. More »Russia sacks theatre chief in 'blasphemous' opera scandal

Fragments of pottery used by Egyptians to make beer and dating back 5,000 years have been discovered on a building site in Tel Aviv, the Israeli Antiquities Authority said on Sunday. Excavation director Diego Barkan said 17 pits were found that had been used to store produce in the Early Bronze Age, from 3500 to 3000 BC. "Among the hundreds of pottery sherds that characterise the local culture, a number of fragments of large ceramic basins were discovered that were made in an Egyptian tradition and were used to prepare beer," he said in a statement. More »Ancient Egyptian beer making vessels discovered in Israel

North Korea has threatened "merciless punishment" against South Korea if it goes ahead with plans to open a UN field office in Seoul for monitoring the North's human rights record. The Committee for Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK), a state body handling inter-Korean affairs, said late Monday that the office was an "unforgivable provocation" and would become a "first-strike target." The United Nations first proposed opening the field office in May last year, following a searing report by a UN commission that concluded North Korea was committing human rights violations "without parallel in the contemporary world". More »North Korea threatens strike against UN rights office in Seoul

China's air force has carried out its first ever military drill over the western Pacific Ocean, state media said, highlighting Beijing's growing military reach. Several aircraft from China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Monday flew over the ocean via the Bashi Channel, which runs between Taiwan and the Philippines, the official Xinhua news agency said. "This is the first time that the PLA Air Force conducted such drills in an airspace far offshore from Chinese coastlines," Xinhua cited army spokesman Shen Jinke as saying. The drill aimed to "level up the PLA Air Force's mobility and combativeness" over the "high seas", Xinhua reported. More »First China air force drills in 'far offshore' Pacific

Robin Williams' widow and his three children have agreed to out-of-court negotiations in a battle over parts of the late actor's estate -- including movie awards such as his 1998 Oscar for "Good Will Hunting". A judge in San Francisco delayed until June a hearing on a suit filed in December by Susan Schneider, with whom the comedian and movie star had been married for five years when he committed suicide in August of last year at the age of 63. Schneider's attorney, James Wagstaffe, told AFP that over the next two weeks he would meet with Williams' three children from two previous marriages -- Zelda, Zachary and Cody Williams -- to try to reach an agreement. The movie awards that Williams won, such as his Oscar, would be worth a lot of money to his children, the attorney said. More »Robin Williams heirs agree to negotiate over belongings

President Aquino has signed a joint congressional resolution raising the daily subsistence allowance for both members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP). Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Aquino signed last March 27 the merged Joint Resolution 2 of the Senate and Joint Resolution 26 of the House of Representatives. Speaking to reporters, Lacierda yesterday said the daily allowances of police officers and soldiers were raised from P90 to P150, a P1,800 increase per month on their monthly salaries. Lacierda said the amount needed to implement the resolution shall be charged against the savings of the Department of National Defense (DND), Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) for the current year and/or the miscellaneous personnel benefits fund. More »Noy increases allowances for cops, soldiers

The Philippines has never offered to drop its Sabah claim in exchange for Malaysia’s support for Manila’s arbitration case against China over the West Philippine Sea issue, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday. “In the context of our friendly bilateral relations, our two countries have been for years exchanging ways on how to address the issue of the extended continental shelf (ECS) in the South China Sea,” Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said in explaining the DFA’s sending of a note verbale to Malaysia last week. More »DFA denies dropping Phl claim to Sabah

Government officials clarified anew yesterday there is no P75-billion funding or “over financing” for the proposed Bangsamoro government since only around P10 billion would be added to the current budget for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in the first two years once the bill to create it is passed. Based on their presentation, government peace panel chairperson Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, peace panel member Senen Bacani and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said even without the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, the annual block grant for ARMM in 2016 would be P26.8 billion and P32 billion in 2017. Its share in the national internal revenue tax collection would be P2 billion for each year. With the BBL, an additional Special Development Fund (SDF) of P7 billion in 2016 would be given to the Bangsamoro government and P2 billion in 2017. More »‘Funds for Bangsamoro P36 B, not P75 B’

Meteorologists warned on Tuesday that a storm reported to have left several casualties and severe damage in Micronesia was building into a super-typhoon as it swept across the central Pacific towards the Yap group of islands. The island of Chuuk, part of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), received a direct hit late on Sunday from Typhoon Maysak and the Yap group was next in its path. "Chuuk was devastated," lawyer Kembo Mida said in an email to the Ayuda Foundation relief organisation which is based in Guam about 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) away. It was very dangerous and scary... a ship sank too." The Pacific News Center in Guam said FSM public information officer Marz Akapito "is reporting that five people have died in Chuuk state due to typhoon Maysak". More »Pacific islands brace for possible super typhoon

Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang believes a Court of Appeals (CA) ruling upholding the granting of bail to former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the electoral sabotage charge before the Pasay City regional trial court is not binding on the Sandiganbayan, which is hearing the plunder case against her. Speaking to The STAR, Tang yesterday said only the Supreme Court (SC) can review and reverse Sandiganbayan decisions. Tang said the electoral sabotage case in the Pasay City court and plunder case before the Sandiganbayan have no effect on each other. “The CA is essentially an appellate court with general jurisdiction, while the Sandiganbayan is essentially a trial court with special and appellate jurisdiction,” she said. More »Sandigan justice: CA ruling on GMA bail not binding

The Philippines is getting 41 million euros or around P2 billion from the International Climate Initiative (ICI) of Germany that will fund 10 bilateral projects to address the impact of climate change. Climate Change Commission (CCC) vice chairman Lucille Sering yesterday met with Norbert Gorissen – head of the International Climate Finance of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety – to discuss the projects, some of which will be implemented until 2017. “These projects are designed to build resilience of local communities, attain sustainable development, increase awareness, skills and capacity development for climate protection and adaptation, enhance employment opportunities and investments in renewable energies,” said Sering. More »Phl gets P2-B climate projects from Germany

The Metro Rail Transit (MRT), Light Rail Transit (LRT) and the Philippine National Railways (PNR) will have shorter hours tomorrow for the replacement of defective railroad tracks during the Holy Week. More »Shorter hours for rail lines tomorrow

The typhoon with international name Maysak slightly accelerated as it moved closer to the Philippines yesterday, threatening to dump rains over eastern Luzon this weekend, the state weather bureau said. Rene Paciente, senior weather forecaster of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said Maysak was spotted at 2,175 kilometers east of Mindanao as of 1 p.m. yesterday. Paciente said based on their latest forecast, Maysak is likely to affect the eastern section of Luzon, specifically the Bicol region, on Saturday. “If the typhoon maintains its present speed and direction, it will enter the Philippine area of responsibility tomorrow afternoon or evening,” Paciente said. More »Maysak moves closer to Phl

The highlands around the Colombian capital are scattered with small buildings that look like out-of-place igloos but are in fact innovative houses made from the tires that litter the country's roads. The woman behind the project is Alexandra Posada, a 35-year-old environmental activist who sports a cowboy hat and jeans while she works, her buff biceps rippling in her tank top as she slings around old tires and shovels them full of dirt. "I get these tires for free because it's a huge problem for people to get rid of them," she told AFP. She and her team take truckfuls of old tires and fill them with earth, turning them into massive bricks that weigh 200 to 300 kilos (450 to 650 pounds) each. More »Colombia transforms old tires into green housing

British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver said Tuesday he regretted saying rival cook Gordon Ramsay was jealous of his success and brushed off their simmering food feud as "no big deal". Oliver, in Australia as part of his "revolution" to champion food education in schools, hit back on Sunday. More »Jamie Oliver regrets heating up Gordon Ramsay food feud

This year’s Holy Week break will be accompanied by an increase in local pump prices after oil companies announced yesterday a P1.10 per liter hike for gasoline and P0.60 per liter for diesel effective today. “Phoenix Petroleum Philippines will increase the prices of gasoline by P1.10 per liter and diesel by P0.60 per liter effective 6 a.m. of March 31, 2015 to reflect the movements in the prices of refined petroleum products in the international market,” said Phoenix Petroleum, an independent oil company and the first to issue the price hike announcement. More »Oil firms raise gas prices today